1. Field of the Invention
The present relates to a barrier detection and warning system and a method thereof, particularly to an image-based barrier detection and warning system and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is uneasy for most drivers to drive a car on streets full of vehicles. Many are flustered in parking a car into a narrow parking lot on a crowed street. Inappropriate driving will cause collision between the car and a barrier. If there are warning systems to warn drivers timely, many accidents should not happen.
Fortunately, a lot of PGS (Parking Guidance System) and PAS (Parking Assistance System) have been developed to meet requirement of drivers. The conventional PGS and PAS systems usually use radar or ultrasonic signals to detect barriers. However, radar devices and ultrasonic devices are unlikely to recognize the environment. Thus is reduced the recognizability of the conventional PUS and PAS systems. Further, the electromagnetic wave of radar may harm human beings. Thus, some new technologies are emerging to gradually replace the conventional radar and ultrasonic systems.
Image-based detection systems are potential substitutes to the conventional detection systems. A China patent No. CN101436300 disclosed a barrier discrimination method and a device thereof, which uses edges and straight lines to detect barriers. A China patent No. CN1782668 disclosed an image-based collision prevention method and a device thereof, which uses horizontal lines, shadows, and brightness decrement of reflected light to detect barriers. The image-based technologies adopt a single camera or a plurality of cameras to capture images. The single camera system has advantages of high integratability, low price and easy installation. However, the single camera system can neither construct 3D views nor overcome distance estimation errors caused by vibration or angle variation. The multi-camera system has disadvantages of high computation amount and inconvenient installation. The multi-camera system spends much more time in computation than the single-camera system and thus cannot provide appropriate information for the drive in realtime.
Accordingly, the present invention proposes an image-based barrier detection and warning system and a method thereof, which uses a single camera but has a recognizability higher than a multi-camera system, and which further has a lower fabrication cost.